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Trademark Law

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - What do you have to do to protect your trademark?

The Klassy Kardashians are now in a legal battle over their makeup line. This summer, the Kardashians filed to trademark the phrase Kardashian Khroma. Yeah, that's with a K. But the maker of a competing makeup brand similarly named Chroma (spelled correctly) is threatening to sue the Kardashians for trademark infringement saying their use of khroma will cheapen his line. Ya think?

The Kardashians aren't worried, they say, because he never filed for a trademark.

Here's the weird thing about trademark law. You don't officially have to file for a trademark just to get rights to it. Instead, you get rights to it when you can show that you've used it in commerce - that is, that you've been selling a product with that name.

Now without having filed for a trademark, the owner of the other line will only be allowed to protect his trademark in the area where his product has been sold. But it's likely that the other owner will KO the Kardashians.

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